NAN-HE-1
Exploration
By Yunus Yusuf
Lagos, March 23, 2017 (NAN) Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorers (NAPE) has urged the Federal Government and stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to attract investors into prospecting for oil and gas in Nigeria’s frontier basins.
The President of NAPE, Mr Abiodun Adesanya, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday that there was need for more concentration on frontier basin exploration development.
He said that investors, experts and other stakeholders in the nation’s oil and gas sector were optimistic of the possibility of discovering oil in commercial quantity in the frontier basins region.
According to him, it is imperative to look for oil and gas in other sedimentary basins outside the Niger Delta region, to grow the nation’s reserves, which he says is fast being depleted.
Adesanya said it was the association’s desire was to open up exploration, but noted that economic realities rather than fiscal terms were preventing people from exploration.
He said that some years ago, when exploration was low, government came up with some incentives and signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) to boost oil and gas findings.
“It was at that time when we (Nigeria) attained astronomical growth in terms of reserves, because people were incentivised to go and drill exploration wells.
“The easy way out in a time like this is to open up our taps and produce, but it is a big concern to us as explorers because the replenishment rate doesn’t match our depletion rate.
“If we continue like this in the next 35 years, we will completely run out of oil.
“The big chance discoveries, especially the deep water, takes between eight and 10 years to bring them on stream.
“If you are depleting and not replacing, it is a big concern. If you make a discovery today, it will take an average of five or six years to produce it.
“So, it is a huge gap,” he said.
Adesanya, who is also the Managing Director, Degeconek Nig. Ltd., urged the government to give incentives that would attract investors into drilling new wells.
He said the development of a fledging oil and gas industry in the North-East would boost the economic fortunes of the country.
Adesanya expressed optimism that Northern Nigeria had massive oil judging by the oil discoveries of commercial quantity in neighbouring countries like Chad and Niger, including far away Uganda and Kenya.
“There should be in ours, too, because the geology that exists in those countries are the same with the ones we have in our inland basins.
“It would make economic and socioeconomic sense to explore for oil and gas in these basins, if only to increase Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources.”
Adesanya said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) had remained a lingering problem,adding that the shortfall in Joint Venture (JV) funding had affected oil production, and brought about job losses. (NAN)
YO/FLP/DUA
============
Edited by Folorunso Poroye/Dada Ahmed